Typically a business will have an accounting software system that maintains a database of the business transactions with its customers, vendors, banks, and other third parties associated with the business as well as internal business transactions between internal accounts.
While these accounting systems facilitate record keeping and may reduce data entry for internal transactions, transactions between businesses have traditionally been handled by one business software system printing a document and the other business manually entering the transaction into their system using data from the printed document.
For example, referring briefly to FIG. 1, an accounting software system 10 may include a print job function 12. For purposes of printing invoices for distribution to customers, a user of the system 10 may select the print job function 12 for a group of invoices. In a known manner such user would then select an appropriate printer queue 18 from a printer folder managed by the operating system. The print job function 12 would then generate a sequence of document objects 16a-16e and direct such sequence of document objects 16a-16e to the identified driver/spooler 18 via an interface therewith.
The format of each document (e.g. each page) of each invoice 16a-16e may be the native output of the system 10 such as Enhanced Metafile (EMF), XML Paper Specification (XPS), or other paper/printer description language.
The printer queue 18 receives the sequence of document objects 16a-16e, converts the document format to a printer description language applicable to the printer 24 to which the job it to be sent (e.g. XPS, Post Script, Printer Control Language, etc), and stores each page in a buffer 20 for sending to the printer 24.
After printing, the invoices are stuffed into envelopes for mailing to the appropriate customer. The customer, upon receipt of the invoice, will likely enter invoice data through a manual data entry (MDE) screen provided by its accounting systems.
Recently various technologies have been developed to facilitate electronic exchange of transaction documents between trading partners. A problem exists in that a business is likely to have a group of trading partners with which it may exchange documents electronically. The remainder of its trading partners will still use traditional paper based document exchange systems.
Further yet, the groups are dynamically changing over time. First, a business's trading partners change over time as new customer/supplier relationships are established and some existing relationships are terminated. Secondly, customers and/or suppliers that have traditionally used paper based document exchange system may adopt electronic document exchange technologies.
Therefore, entering into electronic document exchange creates multiple challenges. First, adoption of an electronic document exchange technology may require costly upgrades to existing paper based document exchange systems. Secondly, a paper based document exchange option must be maintained for those trading partners that still utilize paper based systems. And thirdly, the business must have system for efficiently distinguishing which trading partners utilize each system in an environment where new trading relationships are being established and trading partner's that have traditionally used paper based systems are adopting electronic document exchange technologies.
Accordingly there is a need in the art for a system and method for facilitating use of electronic document exchange without requiring significant modification or upgrading of paper based document exchange systems. Further, there is a need in the art for a system and method for facilitating use of electronic document exchange in an environment wherein only a portion of a business's documents are exchanged electronically while the remaining portion are exchanged utilizing paper based document exchange systems. Further yet, there is a need in the art for a system and method for facilitating electronic document exchange in an environment wherein new trading relationships are being established and trading partners, that have traditionally used paper based document exchange systems, are adopting electronic document exchange systems.